Perhaps you’re an Italian film buff. Or a fan of Federico Fellini. Or you’re fascinated by film studios. In which case, you’ll certainly have heard of Cinecittà. It’s Italy’s foremost film studio. And, when Rome was the epicenter of global film, all the big stars worked there. In the 1950s and 1960s – when American and British stars and directors flocked to Rome, and the grand, hotel-lined Via Veneto in the city center was a lively haunt for celebrity-hunting paparazzi – everyone was working out of Cinecittà. It became known as “Hollywood on the Tiber.”
Fellini worked there. Loren and Taylor filmed there. Its output included classics of Italian neorealism, spaghetti westerns, and sword-and-sandal movies. Ben Hur, Cleopatra, Roman Holiday, and The Pink Panther……of the thousands of films shot there, nearly 50 have received Academy Awards.
The beginning
Cinecittà Studios was founded by Benito Mussolini in 1937 as a propaganda tool for the Fascist leader. Today, the studio uses the nickname Factory of Dreams (Fabbrica dei Sogni), but back then the slogan was “Cinema is the most powerful weapon”.
During World War II, the studios were bombed by the Allied forces and later used as a camp for refugees who fled Rome after the bombings. Later it included refugees from Eastern Europe, Africa, and Asia.
After the war and after Mussolini’s government was expelled, Italian Neorealism grew in popularity. This film movement showed the grittier side of Rome and Italy with stories that highlighted the struggles of the poor and working class.
Then along came Federico Fellini, who apprenticed during the Neorealism period. Fellini, considered one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time, created a new style of directing.
After the popularity of the Neorealism style, a more extravagant and fanciful style, led by Fellini, gained popularity across Italy and the world. His style was so influential that the term Felliniesque was coined. In response to this, Fellini said:
“I’d always dreamed of being an adjective when I grew up. I am flattered by it. I can imagine what the Americans mean when they say Felliniesque: opulent, extravagant, dreamlike, bizarre, neurotic.”
Fellini lived at Cinecittà. Literally. He kept a small accommodation at the studios, which allowed him to never cease working. La Dolce Vita (1960) was filmed in Theatre 5, within which the director recreated the aforementioned Via Veneto. When he did leave the studios to work, he filmed some of the most famous locations in the Italian capital.
The landmark most readily associated with Fellini is, without doubt, the Trevi Fountain, whose baroque majesty played a central role in La Dolce Vita. The film’s most famous scene sees Swedish actress Anita Ekberg immersed in the waters of the fountain, tempting Marcello Mastroianni to wade in after her. When Mastroianni died in 1996 the city of Rome turned off the fountain’s waters, draping the monument in black, and when Ekberg died in 2015, a giant banner reading “Ciao Anita” was hung over the fountain.
But once the greats left, Cinecittà continued. In the last thirty years, the studio has hosted films by international directors like Anthony Minghella, Martin Scorsese, Wes Anderson, and Mel Gibson. Last year, Cinecittà signed a five-year deal with the production group Fremantle for the continual rental of six soundstages at the site. More are on their way.
Today at Cinecittà
Today, Cinecittà movie studios are as full. Productions come for the tax incentives, high production values, and Italian glamour. The 40% tax rebate on production costs for international films and television series has been a strong drawing card.
Fellini’s favorite studio has been reconfigured into a series of medieval rooms and courtyards for a Netflix adaptation of Boccaccio’s Decameron. Nearby, British director Joe Wright has commandeered five studios for an eight-episode series “M: Son of the Century,” based on Antonio Scurati’s best-selling novel about Benito Mussolini’s early years. Most recently, Studio 5 was used for the HBO series Rome and Paolo Sorrentino’s The Young Pope. And Those About to Die, Roland Emmerich’s gladiator series starring Anthony Hopkins, is set to begin filming.
To add to all the buzz, Cinecittà is introducing a major makeover using European Union pandemic recovery funds. Four existing soundstages will be refurbished, and five more are scheduled to be built by 2026. One soundstage has already been outfitted with a gigantic high-tech LED wall that allows virtual effects to be added during production. The addition of the virtual effects technology has expanded Cinecittà’s moviemaking potential, making films more financially possible.
It isn’t just actors and directors that occupy Cinecittà’s lots. The studios are a short subway ride from the historical center of Rome – Centro Storico – and tourists flock to the complex to imbibe history and film. When they arrive, they are transported to a magical and historical “city” that brings to life some of the biggest movies and historical events of the past 80 years.
